youth entrepreneurs club (italy)
DESCRIPTION
Magazine about the meeting in Italy of the Youth Democracy Project 'Youth Entrepreneurs club' financed by Youth in Action Program (April 2013)TRANSCRIPT
Index
Introduction
Visit to Institute ‘Florio e Salamone’
Working group reflections
Experimental workshop
Intercultural exchange
Discovering Palermo
Working groups
Impact of the project
Future steps of the project
Feedback of participants
Partners
3
12
4
5
6
9
10
8
7
Introduction
3
The Youth Entrepreneurs Club is a meeting point
for young people who are interested in developing
an entrepreneurial project. By means of this club,
we want to support the future young entrepreneurs
by giving them useful information.
It started in Lefkada (Greece) in November 2012.
We made the first step by creating the networking
among the four partner countries. During those
days the group set up the content of the web site
and the forum, which constitute both the virtual
meeting point for the young entrepreneurs.
In order to broaden the network already created
and to continue learning from new experiences of
young entrepreneurs across Europe, we organised
a second meeting in Baile Tusnad, Romania in Ja-
nuary 2013.
For the third meeting, a group of sixteen young pe-
ople met from 11th to 15th of April 2013 in Pa-
lermo, Sicily.
Here, we tried to focus on the specific group of pe-
ople with any kind of disability, specially blind and
deaf people.
We were hosted by the ‘Istituto Dei Ciechi, Florio
e Salamone' in Palermo. There, participants shared
activities and daily moments with local youngsters
with special needs.
During the four days of meeting, the participants
visited the facilities of this Institute where blind
people live, study and find every kind of support.
Besides, they visited the Professional School for
blind people ‘Florio e Salamone’ where blind per-
sons are taught and trained for some profession in
order to go into the labour market.
The participants had enough time to enjoy Pa-
lermo city. Two tours were spared to show the par-
ticipants some of the important parts of this Italian
city like ‘Politeama theatre’, ‘the Cathedral’, ‘Te-
atro Massimo’, ‘Chapel of Palatina’, ‘San Giovanni
Degli Eremiti’ or ‘Mondelo Beach’.
During the different workshops, the participants
could discuss about the needs of people with disa-
bilities and how we, as society, can involve them
in entrepreneur projects.
Within the group of participants, we had two sub-
groups with different disabilities. Deaf participants
were included in the French group while the Ita-
lian group comprised people with visual problems.
For this reason, the communication was an impor-
tant issue in this seminar. The entire group learnt
history and basic communication in Braille alpha-
bet and sign language.
Through this experience, we tried to open the
mind of those who don't believe that disabled pe-
ople can be part of the entrepreneurial world.
We hope that this exchange between disabled pe-
ople and people without disabilities enriched both
groups and that it allowed normal people to un-
derstand better the life of people with disabilities.
The organizer of the Italian mee-
ting was ‘Istituto dei Ciechi “Flo-
rio e Salamone”‘, one
governmental institution that
takes care and gives support to vi-
sually impaired or blind people.
The participants were hosted in
the facilities of the institute, sha-
ring daily moments with its habi-
tual residents. For all these
reasons, it was necessary to visit
this interesting place in order to
know better what kind of activi-
ties visually impaired or blind pe-
ople can find there.
The tour around the institute
started in the garden, a peaceful
space where the residents could
rest after the lessons and enjoy
the Italian good weather.
From there, the participants went
to the rooms where the residents
study and learn.
They saw the different manual
art materials the residents crea-
ted, which are developing their
mathematical, language, reading,
sensitive, creative or social skills.
They also met the staff of the
center and some local volunteers
who are doing a wonderful job,
trying to make the life of the re-
sidents easier.
After that, the group went to the
acts room. This room is used for
different kind of events like mu-
sical concerts or theater acts, pla-
yed by the residents in the
institute.
Next stop in the tour around the
institute was the computer room.
This place is equipped with com-
puters and all the software, pro-
grams and equipment needed for
a successful use by a blind or vi-
sually impaired person. In this
room, the students learn basic
and advanced knowledge about
informatics.
The visit was aimed to allow the
participants to know how the
daily life of the students looks
like by seeing where and how
they learn and live.
The second part of our visit to
the ‘Istituto Florio e Salamone’
was on the second day of our se-
minar when the group went to
the professional school for blind
people. In this school, visually
impaired and blind people learn
a profession. They develop their
technical and practical skills in
order to become professionals in
a specific area. Courses to be-
come telephone operator or
physiotherapist are just two
examples of the possibilities that
people with visual problems are
given in this school.
The participants had a tour
around the facilities of the school,
so they could see the different
classrooms for many subjects like
anatomy, informatics, Braille
printing, library... They also visi-
ted the museum ‘Aptico’ and the
exhibition ‘toccare l’arte’ (touch
the art). It is an exposition of
sculptures which represent the
most important monuments of
Palermo.
The objective of this exhibition
is to give the possibility to the vi-
sually impaired to get an idea
about how those monuments
look like by touching their minia-
tures.
Visit to Istituto ‘Florio e Salamone’4
The two parts of the Institute for blind people, i.e. theorical and professional schools,were visited by the participants
5
Group working reflectionsThe participants reflected in groups about the needs of the disabled people and how
they can be involved in the business world.
Needs of youth with disabilities
Nowadays, reality becomes har-
der and harder every day mainly
because of financial issues. In our
daily life, we are often surroun-
ded by problems, which do not
let us realise what next door peo-
ple living next to us may have to
confront.
Has anyone ever wondered about
the daily routine of someone next
door? What if this someone is a
person with a disability?
We almost never consider the fact
that there are people at our age
who, except for the common pro-
blems, face an additional one,
some kind of a disability. This
particular youth has particular
needs.
Initially, since a very young age,
people with disabilities have the
necessity of the continuous pre-
sence of someone else. This per-
son is usually from the family
environment and is playing mul-
tiple roles. For instance, it can be
some kind of a leader or guide,
helper for orientation or an assis-
tant for everyday basic needs
such as eating, getting dressed,
having a bath etc. Every disabi-
lity begets different needs.
For instance, when trying to com-
municate with a deaf person, you
have to get involved in a face to
face talking and a clear expres-
sive speaking. Visual information
such as sign language is of grave
importance and when this is not
possible warning devices may be
necessary.
A common necessity for all kinds
of disabilities is a special educa-
tional system. This means spe-
cially adjusted school
environment (literally or figurati-
vely speaking) and qualified, spe-
cially trained teachers in or-der to
prevent social isolation.
Furthermore, local societies need
to get organized to build the pro-
per construction for people with
special needs.
To reach to a conclusion, people
with disabilities need our respect,
understanding, empathy and
trust.
They need to be dealt as ordinary
people who just want to be an ac-
tive part of the society, overco-
ming their problems.
How youth can help disabled
youth
The Organization of YOUTH re-
ally helps people with disabilities
and presents what is actually
their problem, their needs and
their requirements from the so-
ciety and mainly from the go-
vernment.
All the people who participated
in this project realized and lear-
ned many things about disabled
people’s life and how they com-
municate and achieve their goals.
The most important benefit of
this project was the change of the
participant’s way of thinking.
People usually don’t have the
right education to respect and un-
derstand people with disabilities.
continue in next page...
6
Experimental workshops: Game on entrepreneurship
One of the first workshops of the
seminar was a game which allo-
wing the participants to reflect
about their entrepreneurial spirit
in a specific uncommon situation
for them. There was only one
rule for the game: everyone had
to be silent.
Here we explain this game in de-
tail : we split the room in three
different spaces: the card game,
where an accomplice is waiting
for the players; the creative table
where another accomplice is
doing some creative stuff with
some materials available on the
table as paintings, papers, co-
lours... and the circle made by
chairs.
The game starts with placing all
the participants in a line in the
front. They were invited one by
one to play a card game. They
were not informed about the
rules of this game so they were
putting the cards on the table wi-
thout understanding the logic of
the game.
Suddenly, without knowing why,
they were sent to the ‘creative
table’ or to the circle. This deci-
sion was determinate for their be-
haviour during the card game.
If they were having a fast reaction
and active participation in the
game, they went to the creative
table.
But if they were slow and thin-
king too much, they were sent to
one of the chairs in the circle.
Once they were at the creative
table, they had no instructions
but they could see how the ac-
complice was doing creative
items and they had many mate-
rials they could use. If they were
active on this table showing an
entrepreneurial spirit and a crea-
tive personality, they stayed by
the table.
If not, they were sent to the circle
or to the card game again. The
game finished when everyone
was in the circle or at the creative
table, and nobody was left in the
card game area. When the game
was over and people understood
that there were no rules, they
could analyse how their beha-
viour was during the game and
compare it with their reactions in
a real situation.
Are they waiting for orders about
what to do? Are they active and
entrepreneurs in a situation wi-
thout instructions?
They are afraid of them, and it is
common that they don’t hire
them in their companies because
of their disability and they consi-
der them different part of the so-
ciety.
Inside this program, the biggest
success is that more and more
young people, volunteers or not,
have got in touch with this diffe-
rent way of life and spread the
idea of trust and belief in disa-
bled people.
It is also useful to wonder what
we would do in their stead. We
would try to change the world or
we would wait for a hero?
Another advantage of this pro-
gram of YOUTH organization is
that young people think and find
ideas that would be hopeful for
the future of disabled people.
They may give solutions by
means of these ideas to problems
like unemployment, dependence
of others and low incomes.
In conclusion, both the partici-
pants and the disabled people be-
nefit from this project in the most
adequate way for them.
7
For this third meeting of the pro-
ject, the main target group of
young entrepreneurs was youth
with disabilities or fewer oppor-
tunities.
In this sense, some of the partici-
pants in Palermo were people
with special needs like deafness
or visual problems.
This situation made the commu-
nication a bit complicated in
some moments but, as we could
verify, there were always ways to
understand each other if we re-
ally wanted to. Nevertheless, in
order to understand better the
way of communication of ever-
yone, the participants had two
special lessons about ‘Braille’ and
sign language.
In the ‘Braille’ presentation, Rita,
a total blind participant from
Italy, explained interesting infor-
mation about this way of commu-
nication to the rest of members of
the club. Braille is an alphabet
created by Louis Braille in the
middle of the XIX century. It is
based on six dot cells that, depen-
ding on the combination of dots,
have been assigned to each letter
of the alphabet.
As well, Rita and Felice showed
us the tool utilised to write in
Braille in a non mechanical way,
by making the dots by hand.
On the other hand, the French
participants, Kevin and Youness,
both deaf, had time to make a
basic lesson in sign language.
When sign language first started
is unknown because it is a natural
way of communication which has
arisen because of the need of the
deaf people to express themsel-
ves. This means that it was not
invented by anybody but its ori-
gin is due to the communicatio-
nal human instinct. With this
presentation, the participants
could understand how important
the visual contact is for deaf peo-
ple. That situation could repre-
sent a problem involving the
group of participants with visual
problems. For this reason, all the
participants played in an activity
where the important sense was
the touch, because, as it was said
during the seminar: “if we want
to communicate, we will find the
way”.
Experimental workshops: Communication in Braille and sign language
Intercultural ExchangeMeetings like this one represent
a big chance to learn about other
cultures and countries. Not only
about the hosting nationality but
also about the cultures of all the
partners and participants.
The first night was the moment
for each country to show a little of
its gastronomy. Romanian pa-
linka, Sicilian arancini or Greek
feta were just some of the deli-
cious food the participants ate in
this multicultural evening.
But, of course, it was a great op-
portunity to know deeper Italian
culture. Apart from the intercul-
tural dinner, we also had another
Italian dinner with the authorities
and members of the blind peo-
ple’s institute. It was a good mo-
ment to have the feedback of
everyone.
On the second day of the project
we held an activity called “Pa-
lermo by night”. In that activity,
all the participants of the project
made a tour around the streets of
Palermo. One of the most inte-
resting things of the activity was
that the group comprised also di-
sabled people (blind and deaf)
and consisted of different natio-
nalities.
The bus took us from the “Isti-
tuto Dei Ciechi” and we soon
arrived in front of Teatro Mas-
simo, the famous opera of Pa-
lermo and the third biggest opera
in Europe. That building in-
fluenced by its architecture the
whole area around it. Besides,
shops and bars have names refe-
rring to opera plays. We spent
one hour in the area walking to-
gether, watching every sight that
was close to us.We walked until
we found «Politeama» and the
square in front of it. On the way,
we realized that is was a really
crowded place. People was well
dressed but in a way that we are
not used to. Something else we
have to mention is that we got
surprised by how dirty the place
was. Next stop was the Cathe-
dral, surprising us by its dimen-
sions and different architectural
styles. Unfortunately the Cathe-
dral was closed but we took pic-
tures. After that, we went to
Mondelo beach, a good place for
walk, but also very crowded, too.
We tasted the most delicious ice
cream in a nice place with a lot of
special Italian sweets, cakes and
a big variety of ice cream fla-
vours.
It was for us a new experience to
do things that we also do in our
country : going out and spending
time in the city, but this time
with people of different nationa-
lities and people with disabilities.
We also had to help blind people
in orientation and describe to
them what we saw each time.
It was surprising to us that the
blind people knew exactly what
was in front of them, and this be-
cause they have a special mu-
seum with miniatures. So they
can understand how they look by
touching them.
At the end it was a good opportu-
nity for everyone to come closer
and to understand how blind pe-
ople realize the world and how
we can communicate with deaf
people not knowing even the
sign language.
That night helped us to realize
the disabled people’s needs fur-
ther and made us understand
that communication with the
deaf and the blind is easier than
we first imagine.
Discovering Palermo8
We changed the dark night life
for the sunny light of Palermo
morning.
We started visiting the Palatine
Chapel (Cappella Palatina), a
sumptuous religious monument
of the Norman kings of Sicily.
The Palatine Chapel is located at
the centre of the Royal Palace
(Palazzo Reale) which we also
had the opportunity to visit after
the Chapel. We walked along the
Royal room sand saloon of the
Palace. It was a nice walk along
the political history of Sicily.
After this interesting visit, we
walked to the church “San Gio-
vanni degli Eremiti” (St. John of
the Hermits). Originally from the
6th century, this church was con-
verted into a mosque after the Is-
lamic conquest of the Island. It
became again Christian in the
century thanks to Roger II of Si-
cily. From San Giovanni degli
Eremiti, we continue our visit in
Mondelo beach. Lying on the
sand, swimming or walking next
to the beach were some of the
options we had to enjoy this
wonderful place of the Medite-
rranean cost.
After spending some time in the
beach, we came back to the Isti-
tute Dei Ciechi to return with
our work.
Palermo by night Palermo by day
9
Impact of the projectAs is common in our meetings, in
the last day of the seminar in Pa-
lermo we wanted to meet with
local people in order to explain
them what Youth Entrepreneurs
Club is about.
So we organized a presentation in
the ‘Istituto Dei Ciechi’.
Many people from the institution
and some local media came to
join us and to know what Youth
Entrepreneurs Club is about.
We showed them our work in Pa-
lermo but also all our evaluation
since we started the project in
November last year.
For sure, it was a good way to
make the youngsters of Palermo
to know better our club between
and to achieve one of our objec-
tives as a club: create a big net-
work of young entrepreneurs and
people interested in entrepre-
neurship.
Everything started in Novem-
ber of last year in Lefkas (Gre-
ece). In January, we held the
second meeting in Baile Tus-
nad (Romania).
In April 2013 was the turn of
Palermo (Italy) with a new me-
eting focused in the topic en-
trepreneurship and disabilities.
Now it is the moment to pre-
pare the last meeting of this
project which will be organized
by ‘Together’ in France.
Next date will be in July 2013
when a new group of 16 young
people will meet in order to be
part of Youth Entrepreneurs
Club.
During the French meeting,
the participants will have the
opportunity of evaluate every-
thing what has been done until
then, but, they will also have
the pleasure to present the
Club to the European authori-
ties in the European Parlia-
ment of Strasburg.
Future steps of the project
Working groupsAs it is usual, it is difficult to be
productive in a big working
group. That’s why the partici-
pants divided the tasks and split
responsibilities in order to be
more effective.
As regards the video, a group of
participants were working on se-
lecting the best shots among all
the numerous pictures.
Based on that selection, a ‘ma-
king of’ video will be edited
which it will show the best mo-
ments of the Italian meeting.
Besides there, will be a new
video with interviews where
some of the participants will
share their feelings and impres-
sions after the seminar in Pa-
lermo.
In addition, part of the video
group composed the song that
will be used for the ‘making of’.
As for the forum, another group
of participants planed to add
some new topics related to the in-
clusion of the disabled people in
the entrepreneurship world.
On the other hand, in the case of
this meeting, everyone was invol-
ved in the creation of the maga-
zine.
Divided in pairs, all participants
contributed by writing the arti-
cles you can read in this publica-
tion.
Feedback of the participants10
"I work with visually impaired and
blind children; that’s why this pro-
ject was very useful for me. I was
able to meet visually impaired
adults and see how they live. During
the project, I got some ideas for fu-
ture projects involving people with
visual problems in our organization
in Romania".
"I’m very happy for my participation
in this seminar because I learnt
many things. I learnt about the pro-
blems of deaf people and a little of
sign language. I think it is very im-
portant to induce people with and
without dis-abilities to know how
the life of handicapped people is".
"It is the third time I participate in a seminar
like this and I have to say that, at the begin-
ning, the communication was difficult bet-
ween people from different countries. But,
step by step, I could share my ideas and com-
municate with everybody without problems.
I’m very happy for that.
It is very important to open the world of the
business to the people with handicap. During
the seminar, we found new entrepreneurial
ideas involving the needs of disabled peo-
ple".
"I realized through this meeting
that the communication with
blind or deaf people is much ea-
sier than I thought before. But,
I also saw that they have many
abilities to be entrepreneurs".
It is possible for us to create an
entrepreneur project because
exists a big fear to start. But I
think that, with the support of
organizations and society, it can
be possible.
Gabriela, Romania
Panos, Greece
Younès, France Kevin, France
Dario, Italy
Solidarity Tracks (Greece)
Municipality of Lefkas - DEPOKAL (Greece)
Fédération Familles De France Moselle (France)
Together (France)
Istituto dei Ciechi “Florio e Salamone” (Italy)
Work in progress (Italy)
PIHE- Association for Youth and Students in Partium (Romania)
Asociatia de Tineri din Ardeal (Romania)
This project has been funded with support from European Commission. This pu-
blication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
ΔΙΜΟΣ ΛΕΥΚΑΔΑΣ
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